Tenants rush to move out of Crest View Apartments in the Inskip community Tuesday after Knoxville fire codes inspectors condemned the building for multiple "life safety" violations and gave residents only a few hours to vacate the site. (HAYES HICKMAN / NEWS SENTINEL)

James Rollins wrestled with a dead car battery and a looming deadline to be out of his Inskip area apartment after Knoxville fire code inspectors condemned the building Tuesday afternoon for what were described as "multiple life safety" violations.

Rollins, his wife and their two young children were among two-dozen tenants who received only a few hours' notice to vacate the dilapidated 20-unit Crest View Apartments, 4848 Scheel Road.

The American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at Central Baptist Church of Fountain City to give residents an option for at least one night — the sort of assistance usually reserved for major apartment fires or natural disasters.

Codes inspectors discovered inoperable fire and smoke alarms, dangerous electrical problems and holes in the fire walls between units when they responded to a complaint call Tuesday, city of Knoxville spokesman Eric Vreeland said.

Residents at the scene also complained of rats, broken windows and leaking water heaters. In one vacant second-floor unit, the ceiling had partially collapsed into the bedroom.

The owner already had been cited to appear at a codes hearing next month when KFD decided to take emergency action Tuesday, Vreeland said.

Knox County property records list Earl H. Beeler and Byron Beeler as co-trustees of the site. They could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

KFD Capt. D.J. Corcoran said the fire marshal's office received an anonymous complaint call about 2 p.m. Following the inspection, the site was condemned and residents were told to be off the premises by 7:30 p.m. A Knoxville Area Transit bus was dispatched to provide transportation to the Red Cross shelter.

Michael Calton, who had shared an apartment with two other people at Crest View since October 2013, said he was the person who called city officials Tuesday.

He later found himself on the receiving end of angry comments from some of his neighbors amid their rush to pack and get out.

"I can respect them for that," Calton said. "But in the same token, I have to think of, not only my family's safety, but theirs as well. If a fire were to happen, how would you know? How would you get out in time?"